Design Master Wish List

The current releases are DM Electrical RT 1.1, DM Electrical 8.4, DM HVAC 7.3, and DM Plumbing 4.1. We are not adding new features to these releases.

The next releases will be DM Electrical RT 1.2, DM Electrical 8.5, DM HVAC 7.4, and DM Plumbing 4.2 We are actively working on these release and using this wishlist to guide which features we implement. Some features you see marked as “complete” will not be available until these releases are finished.

How can we improve Design Master?

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Be able to specify a custom description for the voltage on light fixtures when they are set to "Universal". Currently DM lists all the voltages that are used on the fixture. This feature would allow you to override that and specify custom text for the voltage in order to better match the manufacturer's cut sheet.

When the same diffusers are located in the same room, it would be nice if there was an option to label one diffuser and then (TYP and then the quantity it applies to) as opposed to labeling each individual grille/diffuser. This would help clean up the drawings quite a bit from unneeded notations.

In the diffuser tag, add a spot to list the diffuser neck size (so the duct runout doesn't need to be labeled and will clean the drawings up). It would be nice if one diffuser tag can be used for various diffuser neck sizes, for instance, a CD-1 is more of a description of the diffuser type and model and a pull down with diffuser neck size would be input, then the schedule can list CD-1 with a line for quantity of each diffuser size. This would make creating a master schedule much simpler.

It would be helpful when creating distribution equipment lists if there was an option for the manufacturer's name. Currently we have to use an unused Note key, rename the label for that key and then remember which Notes Setting corresponds to the list entry.

Select multiple devices and delete all custom notes (not fixture callouts) attached to them.
The "Match Device Label Locations" command can add many callouts at once, but there does not seem to be a way to easily delete multiple callouts.
This would be especially useful when adding lights to a circuit that already contains lights. Running “Draw Homerun And Loops" would erase a lot of my work, so I usually delete all the circuit callouts manually before drawing loops manually.
If this feature already exists, please make it easier to find.

Would be very helpful to be able to be able to have multiple sources connect to the same bus. We have had numerous situations where we have had Geneva type switches, multiple kirk-key input as well as paralleling switchgear situations where we were unable to find a "work-around" using this software. This is becoming especially common with ConEdison now permitting the paralleling of electrical sources.

I would like the ability to break out individual fault current schedule entries into separate groups based on the service connection or other arbitrary criteria. For example, in a project with three electrical services, the distribution equipment fault current associated with one service could be scheduled separately from the other two services. Design Master currently schedules all fault current schedule entries together. On projects with multiple services and dozens of distribution equipment entries, a method of showing specific fault current calculations in separate schedules would be invaluable.

In the diffuser definition dialog box, designate whether it is a 1W, 2W, 3W or 4W diffuser, then attach that number of arrows. When placing the diffuser, allow the user to rotate the diffuser to align the appropriate air flow direction.

I do a lot of remodel work and it would be nice to be able to fill out a panel schedule with existing load data from a hard copy of an existing panel schedule without have to actually put the loads in the model and then circuiting them.

So that when I am working on a multilevel building all I would have to do is copy the floor plan from one identical level and placing it on the other matching levels then just rename the panels and circuit names, without duplicating the copied information on the original panels. Breaking its connection with the parent panel and giving a notification to reassign panel names.

Allow us to create an Equipment Database similar to the diffuser database which would include dimensions, and notes such as: electrical requirements, efficiency, performance data at design conditions, etc. The equipment should also be included in the takeoff report.